


when the time comes

by kuntenjohnil



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Developing Relationship, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, M/M, Mentioned WayV Ensemble, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:13:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24181138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuntenjohnil/pseuds/kuntenjohnil
Summary: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul. A Ravenclaw. Top student in Defence Against The Dark Arts class.He just wants to be able to summon his familiar before evening comes.But what if his familiar happens to be one of the worst and the most avoided kind?
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten & Qian Kun, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun
Comments: 27
Kudos: 182
Collections: #KunFanWeek2021, Weishen Fest: ANYTHING BUT HUMAN





	when the time comes

**Author's Note:**

> This work was written for Weishen Fest's Second Wave: Anything but Human, prompt #ABH170.
> 
> Dear prompter, please forgive me for slightly changing your prompt. I hope you'll still enjoy this one!

“A very great morning, wizards and witches!” 

Professor Wu’s deep voice suddenly boomed throughout the classroom for Defence Against the Dark Arts filled with sixth year students. Everyone came into silence, but whispers started to be heard after they saw Professor Lu tagging behind Professor Wu with his usual bright, youthful smile never leaving his face.

“Why is Professor Lu here?” Yangyang whispered into Ten’s ear, trying to be as subtle as possible. Professor Wu could be very, _very_ strict if he realized that someone wasn’t paying attention to his lesson.

Ten shrugged, “Maybe they’ll teach us about defence against the dark arts using potions? Ohhh it could be! I’m so excited!”

Yangyang snorted, “Sure, Mr. Outstanding. Only _you_ can be excited over the fact that we’re going to learn about the two most difficult subjects combined. Yeah, right. Very exciting. Woo-hoo.”

“ _Ssssssh_ , Professor Lu is talking!”

“So, you might be wondering why I am here with my cauldron, right?” Professor Lu pointed at his favorite cauldron sitting at the front of the class, the one that students usually saw in the Potions classroom. “Maybe it will be more interesting if you guess! Let me give you one clue: summoning.”

Ten’s face brightened in a second, and he raised his hand quickly. Professor Wu gave the signal for Ten to answer the question.

“Is it going to be used to open a portal? Are we going to summon… our familiar?”

A wide smile broke upon Professor Lu’s face, “As expected from Mr. Leechaiyapornkul! Ten points for Ravenclaw!” followed by claps as well as short roars and whistles from Ten’s fellow Ravenclaws.

“Yes, that was the correct answer. The familiar summoning process usually starts when a wizard reaches the age of sixteen, and it’s considered a unique one because the portal used to summon the familiar will be created through a potion brewed in a cauldron. It’s actually a very easy process, as long as you mix the correct ingredients and read the right incantation.” Professor Wu continued, “Okay! Shall we proceed?”

Professor Wu’s deep voice was then replaced by low murmurs and the buzz of movement coming from the students. A pair of students would be manning one cauldron, so that one would be able to collect the ingredients, while their partner would stay at their station to take note of the correct steps in brewing the potion as well as chant the incantations needed for the spell. Ten and Yangyang, albeit coming from different houses, were always partners in every subject that needed group work, and they had long since mastered their rhythm together. Yangyang was usually the one collecting the ingredients needed, following the note prepared by Ten, while Ten would be at their station drawing flow charts provided with the right tonation for the incantations so it would be easier for both of them.

“Yo, Ten.” Lucas from Gryffindor poked Ten’s shoulder, “What do you think your familiar will be?”

Ten stopped writing, then he tapped his quill on his own chin, “Hmmmm, I’ve never thought of it since I’m a Muggleborn, so I don’t know what kind of familiar I would have….”

“But different wizards might have different familiars from what their family members have! My mom has a white cat, my dad has a labrador, while my sisters have a brown striped cat, a shibe, and a parrot!” Hendery, Lucas’ partner, chipped in after he dropped the ingredients at their station beside Ten and Yangyang’s. “At this point, I seriously have no idea what it’ll be, as long as it’s not a frog! Oh Moon, I will literally jump off a cliff if my familiar turns out to be a frog!”

“A familiar won’t be any animal that you’re afraid of, silly,” Lucas said with a smile. “I really hope that my familiar will be a dog! Oh, or a lion cub too, it would be so adorable! As long as it’s not a human, oh my!”

“Yeah, I agree. As long as it’s not a human, I’ll be happy with anything too. I can’t imagine how humiliating it would be if my familiar was a human! It’d be an embarrassment to my family too!”

Yangyang finally arrived at their station, dropping a basket full of leaves, sticks, different types of berries and some horns of different magical creatures. “Gosh Yangyang, what took you so long?” Ten took some sticks and started peeling them with a tiny knife.

“Minghao took _forever_ choosing the berries, I couldn’t even take one because he kept on moving in that tiny space! All the berries there looked the same, for Moon’s sake!”

Hendery giggled, “No wonder Sicheng ends up asleep,” he pointed at Sicheng who was still waiting at his station for Minghao, sleeping soundly, “I wonder if Professor Wu is going to deduct points from Ravenclaw when he sees him like this.”

“No, he won’t~” Minghao appeared out of nowhere, poking Sicheng’s shoulder with his wand, his other hand still holding the basket full of ingredients, “This guy better wake up before Professor Lu or Professor Wu pass the station.”

Ten snorted, “Well, good luck with that. Sicheng is a pain when it comes to waking up, speaking from my own experience.” Ten pointed to himself, who used to share a room with Sicheng, before he finally got his own room after becoming a Prefect.

All of them were quiet after Minghao managed to wake Sicheng up as they were busy peeling, cutting, squeezing, chopping, and finally stirring the ingredients in the cauldron. Professor Wu was right. Albeit having a lot of ingredients, steps, and a long incantation, the whole process was easy and foolproof, as they just needed to dump everything in, stir the potion clockwise six times and anti-clockwise five times, then brew it unstirred until the potion was orange in color.

Lucas and Hendery’s potion turned orange quickly, so Lucas started reading the incantation excitedly, with Hendery clapping his hands next to him, impatient for his turn. Lucas read the incantation while waving his wand up and down three times, and the potion in the cauldron started to swirl and change its color to white. Just a few seconds later, a brown corgi puppy jumped out of the cauldron, straight into Lucas’ arms. Everyone around them couldn’t help but coo, looking at both the cute puppy and Lucas’ overjoyed expression.

“Congratulations, you have a corgi as your familiar! They're very smart and dependable, but watch out, you’ll end up arguing with them a lot when they grow up because they’ll try to outsmart you!” Professor Wu ruffled the corgi’s fur, while Lucas just nodded happily.

“My turn, my turn!” Hendery pushed Lucas lightly so that he moved a bit further from the cauldron, then started mimicking Lucas’ movements from earlier. However, instead of changing its color to white, the potion turned rainbow and glittery. Then a small, winged unicorn flew out and circled around the cauldron, leaving sparkles in its path.

“Oh Moon! A unicorn!” Hendery’s eyes became even brighter, amazed by his familiar that had finally landed on their station. _A unicorn! How awesome!_

“Wow, a unicorn! A magical creature as your familiar, good for you, Mr. Huang! You better take good care of it!” Professor Wu patted Hendery’s shoulder as he passed by, crossing over the station to take a look at Sicheng’s white pigeon of a familiar that had flown aggressively across the classroom.

Meanwhile, at Yangyang and Ten’s station, Yangyang decided to try first as he was always the more impatient one of the two. Once he finished reading the incantations, the color of the potion turned into yucky dark green.

Yangyang frowned.

“Are you sure you read the incantations correctly?” Ten asked while flipping his parchment, “Because I have checked the ingredients and everything was correct. Maybe it was the direction of the stirring-”

Something suddenly shot out of the cauldron, so fast that nobody could even look closely and identify what kind of creature it was. As quickly as it jumped out, it also fell on top of the station, letting out a tiny cough of fire.

Yangyang frowned even deeper.

“Wow Yangyang, you got yourself a dragon! That’s so cool!” Ten said.

Yangyang lifted the dragon slowly, with a deep frown still on his face. The brownish red dragon was so tiny, it even fit nicely on Yangyang’s palm.

“But it’s so tiny... how is it supposed to protect me—OUCH!” The tiny dragon spat a little fire on Yangyang’s palm, then huffed angrily, letting out small puffs of smoke from its nose.

“A feisty little dragon that you have there, Mr. Liu! Don’t underestimate them, they are known to be very loyal and they won’t hesitate to burn anyone to crisp if someone dares to mess with their master!” Professor Lu waved his wand towards Yangyang’s palm and the burnt mark was gone in an instant.

“I guess it’ll burn me before it burns my enemies,” Yangyang mumbled faintly before he stepped aside and took care of his little dragon.

Ten took Yangyang’s spot in front of the cauldron and waved his wand with precise movements, reading the incantations with perfect tonation.

But nothing happened in the cauldron.

No swirl, no change in color, _nothing_.

“Let me… Let me try one more time,” Ten said.

Unfortunately, the potion was still orange and nothing came out of it, even after trying five more times and literally _everyone else_ in class managing to summon their familiars. The number of students in the class had gone down by a lot as they started to go back to their dorms, quidditch field, or other places. But Yangyang, Hendery, Lucas and Sicheng stayed in the class and looked anxiously at Ten. They knew that he would not stop until something finally came out of that cauldron, he wouldn’t care if he had to spend the whole night in front of it.

Professor Lu and Professor Wu even started to look at Ten worriedly. They understood that Ten wanted to fulfill his curiosity on why his actions didn’t work, and that he also wanted to prove himself as the top student.

“Mr. Leechaiyapornkul, it’s okay, we won’t deduct any of your marks as you have done everything correctly. There might be a number of reasons why familiars don’t want to be summoned at certain times. They will be able to as you become older, you don’t have to worry—”

“Professors,” Ten cut Professor Lu off, “Can I stay until evening? I promise I will keep everything intact, you can even put The Unbreakable Vow on me if it’s required. If I still haven’t managed to summon my familiar by this evening, I’ll clean up everything and go back to my room.”

Both professors looked at each other and spent some time in silence, as if they were trying to send telepathic messages. Finally, Professor Wu broke the silence and looked at Ten, “Mr. Leechaiyapornkul, I have known you for so long and I trust you, I don’t think there is a need to use The Unbreakable Vow. I’ll give you until 8 in the evening, and make sure you’ve cleared your station and locked the classroom by that time.”

Ten nodded, “Thank you, Sir. I deeply apologize for the inconvenience.” Both professors nodded, then left the classroom together. 

“Guys, I think you can all go back first. I might spend a lot of time here, and I’m sure all of you have something else to do. Lucas, I know you have quidditch practice this afternoon!” Ten pointed at Lucas, while he just smiled sheepishly.

“Are you sure you’re okay all alone here, Ten? What if a ghost annoys you?” Sicheng asked.

Ten rolled his eyes, “I’ve spent almost six years in this school. All of the ghosts that I’ve encountered are my friends at this point, and I have my wand ready anyway. I’m the first ranked for Defence Against the Dark Arts, remember?” Ten winked cheekily.

“Okaaaay, Mr. Outstanding. If you don’t appear in the Great Hall for dinner, I’ll personally chase your ass down here. You hear me?” Yangyang poked Ten’s left ear with his wand.

Ten swatted the wand, “Okay, hear hear! Alright then, bye everyone! I’ll see you guys during dinner!” All of them simply waved at Ten, then left the classroom.

After everyone finally left, Ten sat down in front of the cauldron and rubbed his face. The orange potion inside was still simmering and bubbling, signaling that it still worked perfectly without him having to make a new one. He opened his book, and re-read the same sentences over and over again. He couldn’t figure out what went wrong, but he still didn’t stop. _One more, just one more time._

* * *

The sky outside had darkened, and to say that Ten was exhausted would be an understatement. He was close to giving up, so he said to himself, “This is the last time, and if I still can’t summon you, dear familiar, I’ll just try again next year. Here we go.”

Ten repeated the same actions for the hundredth time, and suddenly something different happened.

Instead of changing color or swirling, the potion inside of the cauldron just _disappeared_ , leaving an empty cauldron behind.

Ten just stood quietly, stunned.

“What now?” Ten dropped on his knees and closed his eyes with his palms. Was he too tired and misread a word in the spell? Or was the potion too old and he was actually supposed to replace it with a new one? _What went wrong?_

“Hello?”

A voice coming from the cauldron’s direction suddenly stopped the string of misery in Ten’s head.

_Is it one of the ghosts?_

Ten raised his head towards the cauldron, and gaped.

A man ( _a fine one at that,_ Ten’s mind gladly supplied) had poked his head out of the cauldron. The man looked around, then slowly raised his body, showing a black cat in his arms. His eyes finally stopped at the still-gaping Ten, and he waved his hand lightly.

“Hello, I’m Kun, can you please explain where I am? I was just lazing around my backyard with my cat, and now all of a sudden I’m here...”

_Damn, even his voice is smooth._

Ten shook his head, then tried his best to compose himself, “Hi, I’m Ten, and you’re in Hogwarts.”

His guest looked confused, and hugged his cat even tighter, “Hogwarts? I’ve never heard of it… and I don’t think I’ve learned about that in any of my geography classes either… is this place far from China?”

_Ah, a muggle._

Ten’s eyes suddenly widened.

_Muggle? A human?_

_How is it possible for a muggle to be summoned to Hogwarts? Non-wizard humans are not supposed to be able to see Hogwarts even?_

_Unless…_

_This human is actually my familiar?_

Yangyang’s words suddenly rang through his head, “ _I can’t imagine how humiliating it would be if my familiar was a human!”_

_No no no no, this can’t be happening!_

Ten dropped his body onto the nearest bench, feeling even more frustrated than when he was trying to summon his familiar.

“Ten, are you okay? You look stressed…” Kun moved closer to Ten with small and careful steps. After all, he didn’t want to make Ten angry or feel even more stressed.

Ten sat quietly on his bench, his eyes looking at his own shoes. His mind went blank, he couldn’t say anything at all. 

Then suddenly, he saw something poking his shoe.

The black cat’s head. Snuggling cozily into his left shoe.

_Well, whose heart wouldn't melt at the sight of this?_

Ten raised his head, and his eyes met a gentle gaze and a soft smile coming from Kun.

“Heimao is a very smart cat. I just needed to tell him that you’re sad and he needs to cheer you up, and he decided to snuggle with you.”

Ten looked at the cat again, who was looking back at him with beautiful blue eyes, “Can I hold him?”

“Sure! Heimao is pretty friendly, as long as you don’t have any bad intentions towards him, which I know that you don’t!”

Ten slowly lifted the cat and put him in his arms. As expected, Heimao got comfortable pretty quickly once he settled himself in Ten’s arms. He even gave Ten’s palm some kitten licks and bumped his little head softly into Ten’s palm.

_So cute and obedient, if only this cat was my familiar…_

Ten’s eyes widened.

“Kun, I promise I’ll help you find a way to go back home, but it might take some time since I have no idea how, and I’ll need to do some research on it. You don’t even need to worry about your family back home, I can use my time turner and they won’t even know that you've left for, let’s say, a year.” _Ah, one of the perks of being in Professor Zhou’s good book._ “Is it okay with you?”

Surprisingly, Kun gave a wide smile and nodded excitedly, “Yes! Honestly, I don’t mind. I would like to venture around and learn more about this place, it looks really interesting!” Kun answered while looking around the classroom in awe.

Ten released a relieved sigh, “That’s great! You and your cat can stay in my room, I’ll even lend you my invisibility cloak so you can go around without being noticed. But… is it okay if I borrow your cat to my class tomorrow?”

Kun frowned, “What do you need Heimao for?”

Ten stood up and moved closer to Kun, “You see—”

* * *

“Awwww Ten, your familiar is really cute!” Yangyang shouted in glee as he kept on squishing (gently, of course) Heimao’s small cheeks.

Ten only smiled stiffly, too afraid to say anything that would reveal his plan to fool his classmates and professors by telling them that Heimao was his familiar. 

Luckily, Heimao was a very, _very_ obedient cat. Although he had to be separated from his owner for a while, he didn’t make any fuss. Said owner had to stay in Ten’s room though, as Ten had not yet taught him how to use an invisibility cloak properly. Kun didn’t mind at all, as Ten had a lot of books about witchcraft and wizardry. And Kun happened to really, _really_ love reading.

“Oh! I see that someone finally managed to summon his familiar?”

Ten and Yangyang looked around and were met with Professor Lu’s smiling face.

“O-oh, yes Professor! It took a long time for me to finally manage to summon this little one!” Ten handed Heimao to his professor, who accepted the cat very gladly (don’t tell anyone, but Professor Lu has a huge soft spot for cats).

Professor Lu stroked Heimao’s fur very gently, and it might’ve looked like he was trying to lull the cat to sleep, but Ten could see that Professor Lu was thoroughly observing the cat. He had no idea what his professor was trying to take note of, but Ten prayed to Merlin and every deity existing that Professor Lu wouldn’t realize that Heimao wasn’t really his familiar.

All of sudden, Professor Lu scratched Heimao's neck, and paused. 

For every second of the pause, Ten felt his breath hitching.

Until Professor Lu finally showed his brilliant smile once again.

“It’s very rare for a cat familiar to be so obedient towards their master, but your black cat here is an obedient one! His loyalty is undoubtable, so he might be very defensive towards anyone who attacks his master. Take good care of him, you might need him to save you from danger in the future,” Professor Lu said while handing the cat back to Ten.

_Wait._

_He didn’t even realize that this cat isn’t actually my familiar?_

Ten smiled even more brilliantly, then patted Heimao who settled quickly in his arms, “Sure, Professor Lu! Thank you!”

Professor Lu just nodded, then he walked to the podium at the front of the classroom, “Good morning, wizards and witches! Open your textbook to page 19—”

* * *

“Kun!” Ten shouted excitedly as he opened his dorm room-

-only to be greeted with silence.

“Kun?” Ten put Heimao on the floor, letting the cat roam free to find his owner. Heimao just roamed aimlessly, seemingly unaware of Kun’s absence. Ten then looked at his coat hanger near the door.

The invisibility cloak was not there.

Ten paled.

_Where in Hogwarts could Kun be? What if he’s lost? Will he get caught? What’ll happen to him if he gets caught? What if—_

Ten’s panicked mind was interrupted by the sound of his door creaking, being opened by something unable to be seen by the naked eye.

Or to be more specific, by _someone_ who grinned widely after revealing himself from underneath the missing invisibility cloak.

“Hello, good afternoon! You’re back!”

“Kun, oh Merlin, where were you? Are you okay? Did you get caught? Oh well, of course not, if you were caught, you wouldn’t be here and I would be in danger instead—”

“Ten,” Kun’s soft voice magically stopped Ten’s ramblings, “Look, I’m okay. I just had a look around, and I followed the path that you showed me last night when you did your patrol. This school is so crowded in the morning and afternoon, it’s so fascinating!”

Ten smiled lightly at Kun’s excitement. “Yes, we have a lot of students here. Did you pass the Great Hall though? Did you go there during any meal time?”

Kun’s eyes shined even brighter, “Yes! I dropped by during lunch and gosh, the buffet spread! It looked amazing! So much food!”

“Just let me know if you want some of them! I can keep some for you during my lunch or dinner—”

“I don’t want the food, I want to know how to make it!”

Ten was taken aback.

“How to… make it?”

Kun nodded, his fluffy hair bouncing cutely, “Yes! I love cooking, and I noticed that some of the foods that you have here are different from the ones in my hometown. I want to learn how to make them, so I can make them when I’m back to my home later on! Do you know how I can get the recipes?”

Ten folded his arms, “Hmmm…”

“...time to hit the library then.”

* * *

“Wow Ten, this is… amazing,” Kun whispered as he entered the library and looked at the floating chandeliers.

  
“You gotta get used to it, Kun, this is Hogwarts after all,” Ten smirked as he nodded to the librarian on duty.

Ten brought Kun to the Reference Section, where all sorts of books were located, including cookbooks. Kun’s face instantly brightened, and he pointed at different books for Ten to retrieve, including _Dinner at Hogwarts_. After Kun was happy with his choice of books, they decided to pick a secluded corner where Kun could open his invisibility cloak and read comfortably.

And that corner happened to be close to the Restricted Section.

Ten snapped his fingers, “Kun! Can I borrow the cloak for a while?”

Kun looked away from _Dinner at Hogwarts_ and frowned, “Then what if someone sees me here?”

Ten thought for a bit, then he got an idea after he looked at his Ravenclaw robes, “You can wear my robes! That way nobody will directly recognize that you’re not a student here. I won’t take a long time, I promise.”

Kun was quiet for a while before he finally nodded and took off the cloak covering his body, then passed it to Ten. Ten took off his robes and passed it to Kun before covering his own body with the invisibility cloak and walked quickly into the Restricted Section.

The Restricted Section, albeit only being separated by a rope at its entrance, definitely had a different feel from the other sections. The other sections felt warm, bright and welcoming, while this one had a more spine-chilling feel, with a thin layer of dust covering most of the books and only a lantern here and there to help light the path in between the shelves. Ten squinted and looked at the titles of the books carefully, before he finally brightened upon seeing the title he was looking for.

_Secret of The Dark Arts: Muggles._

The earliest version of this book taught how to make Horcruxes, but was hidden and taken away from the library to avoid misuse of the spells and instructions inside. However, years later, another title was released, and this time the dark arts discussed in the book were more related to Muggles and Muggleborns.

Exactly what Ten was looking for.

Ten slowly opened the book and scanned through the long table of contents, letting out a little gasp once he found the exact title he was looking for.

“How to Transport Muggles Back to Their World”. Page 59.

Ten took out a small piece of paper and a quill from his inside pocket and started to jot down the ingredients and draw the flowchart needed for the potion brewing and incantations. All the practice drawing various flowcharts in different classes with Yangyang paid off as he could quickly summarize everything in one comprehensive flowchart.

“Basil leaves, mulberries, orange peel… easy peasy... wait, bubotubers? Sycamore bark? Devil’s snare? Mandrake? Geez, they really had to put the difficult ones at the end of the list, didn’t they,” Ten mumbled to himself as he slowly walked back to the entrance while reading the list that he made.

Ten finally managed to leave the Restricted section, alive and unscathed, and saw Kun who was still diligently reading his book as if he was going to have an exam the next day.

_He could really blend in with all of the students here._

“So,” Ten whispered as he sat down next to Kun, chuckling a little as he startled since Ten was still wearing his invisibility cloak, “What can you cook for me?”

Kun smiled, his eyes still trained on the page in front of him. “I can cook you beef and potato casserole, if you want.”

* * *

“Where are you bringing me, Ten?” Kun whispered underneath the invisibility cloak that both of them were wearing, while walking down the stairs of Ravenclaw tower.

“Sssssh, it’s a surprise. You have to wait and see. Patience, Kun, patience!”

“I _am_ patient, Ten. I’m just worried.”

“Then don’t be such a worrywart! I’m sure you’ll love this!”

Kun then decided to stay quiet and follow to wherever Ten brought him.

Until they stopped in front of a giant door near Hufflepuff tower. Ten then got out of the invisibility cloak and tickled the picture of a pear in the bowl of fruit hanging in front of the door. The pear, surprisingly, giggled and turned itself into a green door handle, that Ten pushed quickly.

Revealing the Hogwarts kitchen.

“Oh my god, Ten… how did you manage to get the entry to this kitchen?” Kun said in awe.

Ten shrugged coolly, “Let’s just say that your roommate here is in the good books of all house elves working in this kitchen. They even said that we could use every ingredient that we want, as long as we clean up everything after.”

Kun walked around and touched every pot and pan, eyes twinkling in happiness, “Oh god, I missed cooking so, so much.”

“Well, you can do as you please here. Now is the right time for you to cook me the beef and potato casserole that you promised me last time!” Ten said while poking Kun’s arm repeatedly.

“Ahhh, so is that the reason why you skipped dinner just now?” Kun asked.

“Ahhh, someone is worried, I see?” Ten winked.

Kun just grumbled in reply.

“Wait… I think I need to put the Imperturbable Charm up so nobody can hear anything from the outside…” Ten took the wand out of his coat pocket, “What was the incantation again…”

“Imperturo,” Kun cut in, hands and attention unwavering from the casserole dish he managed to find in one of the drawers.

“Oh yes, Imperturo! Wait… how did you know, Kun?”

Kun smiled, then he looked at Ten, “I have literally read all of your books, Ten, even the subjects that you have taken in the previous years. I don’t know how, but the spells just got attached in my brain very easily and quickly, so now I can remember almost every spell that I have read,” he answered proudly.

“Wow, if only you were able to do magic, you would definitely be Professor Zhou’s golden child- he is our Charms professor.” Ten said as he waved his wand and read the incantation, successfully covering the door with a temporary soundproof barrier.

Kun just smiled even wider hearing that from Ten.

Kun then started to pick his ingredients from the freezer, chiller, and different wooden baskets. He chopped, peeled, and cut everything manually using a knife, and he even denied Ten’s offer to use some magic to help hasten the process because _“I am sure you haven’t tasted any Muggle food for so long, now is the right time!”_

It took around an hour or so to cook the whole dish, and the smell that came out of the dish when the casserole was taken out of the oven was incredible. Ten quickly took two forks and gave one to Kun, he just couldn’t wait to have a taste.

Once one piece of gravy-soaked potato went into Ten’s mouth, he really couldn’t help but close his eyes and hum happily.

“Kun.”

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

Kun blushed, “Don’t say anything you don’t mean, Ten.”

“But I mean it! I could marry you because of this amazing dish! See how easy it is to get my heart!”

Kun laughed, “I need a better token of appreciation! After all, I just cooked you dinner!”

Ten looked at Kun’s eyes with all seriousness, “I promise I will try my best to bring you home.”

Kun’s smile dimmed.

“Thank you, Ten,” he finally said softly.

* * *

  
  


“Oof, thank you for keeping this seat for me, Yang!” Ten poked Yangyang next to him then quickly proceeded to take some of the chicken stew in front of him. It’s Wednesday night, and Wednesday’s dinners were always the best compared to other days, in Ten’s own opinion.

Yangyang stopped eating, then looked at Ten with a deep frown latched on his face, “Where were you? You literally disappeared right after Transfiguration class.”

Ten stopped chewing his chicken for a split second, and he swallowed with much difficulty, “I…. I directly went to my room. I was tired.”

_No, he can’t find out that I went to the edge of The Forbidden Forest to get some bubotubers._

“You? Feeling tired after just one class? Am I talking to a different Ten right now?” Yangyang raised his voice.

Ten looked away from his plate and looked at Yangyang, “Are you angry at me?”

“No, I am not.”

“Then why are you getting all defensive at me? Okay then, I’m sorry I ditched you and didn’t tell you where I went!”

“Why are _you_ the one getting all defensive now? Ten, you know what, I don’t even really see you around nowadays! You disappear so often, I didn’t even see you at The Great Hall during some lunches and dinners, what is happening?”

Ten stayed quiet.

“Are you hiding something from me, Ten?”

“No! Why do you think that?”

“Because this is _exactly_ how someone who is hiding something would react to my question.”

“So now you’re accusing me?”

Yangyang didn’t answer and quickly stuffed his things into his bag. He then stood up and looked directly at Ten’s eyes, “You are not Ten, my best friend that I used to know. Heck, I don’t even know you anymore.”

And just like that, he left the dining table.

* * *

It was past midnight, with only the sound of raindrops hitting the glass windows filling the room.

But none of their eyes were closed.

“Ten.” 

“Hmm?”

“See, I knew you weren’t asleep yet.”

“...and? I am not making any noise, aren’t I?”

“No, it’s not that… I know you’re bothered by something. I can hear your brain whirring from here.”

Ten chuckled, “What is that even supposed to mean?”

Silence washed over them for a minute before Kun finally broke it,

“You can always tell me if you have something bugging you, Ten. I will try my best to help you out.”

Ten stayed quiet.

“Or if I can’t figure out the way to solve your problems, at the very least I can be a great listener. As long as you don’t keep it all inside. You’ll feel much better if you let it out, Ten.”

Ten sat up and took a look at Kun lying down on his futon next to his bed. Kun was looking back at him. He gave Ten a soft smile, and his features were accentuated by the moonlight cascading down from the glass window.

_Beautiful._

Ten’s eyes suddenly went wide and he quickly shook his head.

_What the hell was I thinking?_

“Ten… are you seriously alright? I am worried.”

_No. I might be falling for you dammit._

“Yeah, I’m good…. It’s just…” Ten played with the hem of his pajama shirt, “Kun do you have a best friend?”

Kun hummed, “Yes, I have some back home. I am even still in touch with my primary school best friends.”

“That’s nice.” Ten looked at his toes, knocking his big toes together repeatedly.

Kun sat up and took a closer look at Ten, “I assume you are having some problems with your best friend right now?”

Ten raised his head and looked straight into Kun’s eyes, “Wow, I thought you were a muggle? How could you predict that correctly?”

Kun laughed softly and poked Ten’s leg repeatedly, “I don’t have to be a wizard to be able to see that, okay!”

Ten laughed for a bit before a somber look returned to his face, “Yeah, my best friend is kind of mad at me right now. You know that we spent a lot of time in the library lately, and I am also now trying to collect the ingredients needed to build the portal and send you back home….”

Ten paused for a while.

“Is he mad at you because you didn’t spend much time with him lately?” Kun asked.

Ten shook his head, “No, he is not that kind of person. He knows that we have things that we have to deal with, and he knows it perfectly well because I have been a Prefect for some time,” Ten played around with the hem of his shirt again, “It’s just that… he suspected that I was hiding something from him, and I was quite defensive to him just now when he accused me of that…. Then he said that I am no longer the person, the best friend that he used to know.”

Both of them stayed quiet for a moment, with only the pitter-patter of raindrops on the window echoing in their ears.

“Do you trust him?”

Ten raised his head, slightly taken aback by Kun’s question, “What?”

“He is your best friend. And you’ve known him for such a long time. Do you trust him?”

“Yes. I do trust him.”

Kun gave him a little smile, “Being best friends doesn’t always mean that we share everything with them, and it is totally okay if you don’t want to share about what’s going on with him,” Ten bowed his head and lightly nodded, before Kun continued, “But I can see that you want to tell him what you feel, tell him what you think, about what’s going on with you right now… and that’s totally okay as well.”

Ten raised his head again, and he was met with a sweet, heartwarming smile.

His heart decided to skip a beat.

“Are you okay with that? I mean, with someone else knowing about you being here?” Ten asked carefully.

Kun held Ten’s hand, trying his best to express his sincerity, “I am okay, because I trust you.”

The room was quiet again, just two pairs of eyes looking at each other, conveying the unspoken words between the both of them.

Ten suddenly blinked, and a soft smile grew on his face, “Thank you Kun,” Ten tightened his hold on Kun’s soft palm, “That’s exactly what I needed. Thank you so much.”

Another smile grew on Kun’s face, “See? This muggle can help you out without magic! I am so proud of myself right now.”

Ten just slapped Kun’s arm.

* * *

_You are the smartest in Defence Against the Dark Arts class. You remember all spells perfectly. You can solve your problems quickly and level headedly._

_You will be just fine, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul._

Ten looked at the bunch of trees blanketed in dark fog ahead of him. He only needed one last ingredient for his potion to open the portal, and it was the bark of a sycamore that could only be found right in the middle of The Forbidden Forest.

He sighed.

_What will happen when Kun already goes back to his home later on? Will I miss the smile that I always see right after I open the door? Will I miss the midnight talks with him? Will I get reminded of him every time I pass the kitchen?_

_Will he even remember me?_

“You’re not supposed to fall for him, you moron!” Ten hit his head repeatedly, drops of tears starting to slide down his face.

_No, he doesn’t belong here. I was the one who brought him here, I also have to be the one to bring him back._

_Don’t be selfish, Ten._

Ten wiped his tears and took a long breath. 

“Let’s get this over and done with.”

* * *

Kun opened his eyes abruptly. Cold sweat was rolling down his temple. It was getting dark outside and Ten was still not back yet.

He sat on his futon and roughly rubbed his eyes. 

_Something is not right._

Heimao suddenly walked over and nudged Kun’s knee with his head, trying to get his attention. Once Kun directed his attention to him, he simply left Kun’s side and walked towards the coat hanger, biting the nearest corner of the invisible cloak that he could reach and trying to pull it down.

“Do you want me to go out?”

Heimao just gave a blank look to Kun, but he still kept on tugging the coat with his teeth. Kun sighed, then he stood up from the futon and took both the cloak and the cat.

“We need to find Ten, and you’re going with me, little one.”

* * *

“It is either magic, or I have spent so long here that I’ve become crazy,” Kun mumbled under his breath. He was still walking through the hallways and it was still pretty full of students who just finished their last class of the day, so he didn’t want anyone to hear him.

Kun might be just imagining things, but he kept on hearing the wind whispering to him, “ _To the forest…. To the forest….”_ and he couldn’t even help but walk towards that direction, like some force was trying to push him to go there.

“Let’s just hope that the whispers didn’t come from the demons, Heimao, or we’d be screwed,” he whispered to Heimao’s ear, who surprisingly sat still in his embrace.

Kun finally arrived at the edge of The Forbidden Forest, and he slowly swallowed his saliva. Can’t blame him though, the forest itself already looked intimidating enough in the daylight, and it looked even more eerie when the sun was about to go down.

“ _Are you looking for your human, young man?”_

Kun was startled. He actually couldn’t really decipher where the voice came from, but he was sure the question was directed to him, “Hi yes, um… did you see him? Blond hair, a tattoo on his right arm?”

Nobody answered him for quite some time, until a breeze suddenly passed by and whispered to him, “ _He needs you. Come inside. Be careful.”_

He needs you. Come inside. Be careful.

Not a good combination.

Kun held Heimao tighter in his embrace, and he started to walk through a clearer path that was not covered in high bushes. It was pretty difficult to walk straight without any hindrance as the fog surrounding the forest was quite thick and the trees' spatial patterns were all over the place. Kun was not sure whether it was just his imagination , but it suddenly felt like the trees were opening their way for him so that he could follow the path more easily. Honestly, he didn’t know which way would lead him to Ten, so he decided to focus on the whispers coming from the trees, telling him _“This way… this way…”_

Until he suddenly heard a blood curdling scream coming from his left.

_Ten._

Kun quickly ran towards the direction of the voice. He didn’t even think of the fog, the whispers, or the moving trees anymore. In his head, it was just _Ten! Ten! Ten!_

When he arrived, he couldn’t help but gape looking at what’s happening in front of him.

Ten was curling up in a fetal position on the ground, dejectedly crying for help, with black faceless creatures flying around him.

_Holy shit._

_Are they dementors?_

At times like this, Kun hated the fact that he wasn’t a wizard. So much.

Heimao suddenly jumped out of Kun’s embrace and ran towards Ten’s direction. He hissed at the dementors, trying his best to scare the black creatures away from Ten. Some of them stayed back because of Heimao’s hiss, but one dementor suddenly found its way to get close to Ten and was ready to give his deathful kiss to Ten’s mouth.

“Expecto patronum!”

Just like magic, Kun’s palm was shining brightly and a beam of light shot itself out, slowly forming a creature made of thick sparkly vapor that was bigger than Kun himself.

A grizzly bear. With a phoenix sign on its back.

_Did I just…. cast my own Patronus?_

The furious bear roared at the dementors, showing their sharp teeth purposely to frighten them. They also bared their claws a few times to chase the dementors away. 

All of sudden, another bright, silvery creature darted past Kun’s head. Once they arrived next to the grizzly bear, Kun was able to see their form clearly.

A sheep.

Kun looked behind him, and he saw Yangyang with his wand pointed towards the dementors, silver sparkles still trailing off its tip. 

A professor suddenly arrived and stood next to Yangyang, casting a Patronus out of his wand, releasing a panda bear that quickly joined the sheep and the grizzly bear to fight off the dementors. With the help of the other two Patronuses, the dementors finally vanished into thin air, leaving a trail of black smoke behind.

Kun directly ran to Ten who was still curled up like a ball and hugged his trembling shoulders, “Sssssh, it’s okay Ten, you’re okay, you’re okay….”

Yangyang and the professor also approached Ten, and the professor swiftly checked Ten’s condition.

“Professor Huang, is Ten okay?” Yangyang asked, full of worry.

“Yes, he is okay, but still shocked. Can both of you help him walk to my hut? I’ll make some tea, then we’ll go to the infirmary after for further check up.” 

Yangyang and Kun nodded, then they helped Ten stand up and walk slowly to Professor Huang’s hut right at the border of the forest.

* * *

Professor Huang put down his teacup and let out a little sigh. The three younglings were still sitting right in front of him, heads bowed down and teacups left untouched.

“So did you manage to get the sycamore that you were looking for?”

Ten was startled, but he nodded briskly, “Yes, Professor. I am keeping the bark inside of my coat.”

Professor Huang nodded lightly, and sipped his tea again. He stayed quiet after he finished the tea in his cup.

“Professor,” Ten said meekly, “It is my fault for not telling anyone that I summoned my human familiar and hid him without anyone’s knowledge, and it is also my fault for going into The Forbidden Forest. Please, please don’t include Yangyang and Kun in the punishment that will be given to me. I am supposed to be the one responsible for all of this mess.”

Professor Huang furrowed his eyebrows, “.....human familiar?”

Ten nodded, “Yes, Professor. Kun is supposed to be my human familiar. He managed to come here after I tried summoning him using the cauldron-“

“Ten, Kun is not your familiar,” Professor Huang cut Ten off mid-sentence then pointed at Heimao who was lying down lazily near the door, “That black cat is.”

_What_.

“But Professor… then how did Kun manage to be summoned if he is not my familiar? I thought mug- I mean, non-wizard humans are not supposed to be able to see and come to Hogwarts?” Ten asked in disbelief.

“What kind of non-wizard is able to cast a Patronus, let alone without any wand?” Professor Huang asked, folding his arms in the process, “Kun was able to come here because he is a wizard.”

Kun’s eyes widened, “Excuse me Sir, but… me? A wizard? But… how?”

“Kun, do you happen to know the name Zhang Yixing?” Professor Huang asked.

Kun nodded slowly, “Yes… kind of? I think my father once told me when I was a kid that I have a great great grandfather named Zhang Yixing, but honestly I have no idea why he ever told me about this…”

Professor Huang smiled softly, “Zhang Yixing was one of the most powerful wizards in Hogwarts, and he was one of few that could perform wandless magic,” Professor Huang explained, “Another thing that made me realize that you must be his descendant was your Patronus. His Patronus was a very unique one, as it was a cat but with a phoenix sign on its back. From what I saw, your bear also happened to have the same sign on its back.”

Yangyang who was quiet the whole time, finally raised his question, “But Professor… Why didn’t Kun accept his letter when he was eleven? Why wasn’t he enrolled in Hogwarts earlier?”

Professor Huang tapped his chin repeatedly, “From what I’ve heard, Zhang Yixing married Kim Joonmyeon, who is a non-wizard human, and decided to live without the help of magic. His children as well as grandchildren were all squibs, so it is possible that Kun is one of the cases we call late bloomers. Late bloomers usually only have their magic released and known when they have grown past eleven years old. In Kun’s case, his magical ability was only made known when he saw Ten in danger, here in Hogwarts.”

“Oh! That was what I wanted to ask you, Kun,” Ten touched Kun’s palm, “How did you know that I was in the forest? You didn’t even know the way to get there, right?”

Kun hummed thoughtfully, “My gut feeling suddenly told me that you were in danger, so I left your room… and I didn’t know if that was even possible, but the wind and the trees led me to you. They whispered to me which way to go, to reach you.”

Ten frowned, then he looked at Professor Huang, “Professor… if he is not my familiar, then how is that even possible? How did he get the gut feeling that I was in danger?”

Professor Huang smiled secretively, “For that question, I suggest you get the answer from Professor Lau. I am very sure he will have the answer to this one.”

* * *

Ten didn’t take Divination as one of his chosen electives, which made this his first time visiting Professor Lau’s infamous lair.

_Wow it really feels like visiting a fortune teller._

“Well, you could say so, Mr. Leechaiyapornkul, as I can also predict your future using my ability,” Professor Lau suddenly said without looking away from his crystal ball.

Ten’s eyes widened, “So- sorry Prof, you could read my mind??”

Professor Lau just smiled, “Yup. One of the reasons why I wanted to specialize in Divination. It makes my work much easier,” he said while rubbing his crystal ball a few times, his focus undeterred from the vision shown in the crystal ball.

Silence washed over the whole room, until Professor Lau finally raised his head and looked at the two teenagers in front of them.

“I can actually tell you the whole story, but I think it is better for you both to see the visions on your own. This... is actually related to your past,” he mentioned seriously.

Kun pointed at both himself and Ten, “Our past…? Does that mean we were connected in the past?”

Professor Lau gave a tight-lipped smile, “Both of you were more than just connected, I should say.”

Ten and Kun looked at each other, then they looked at Professor Lau again.

“Yes Professor, we’re ready,” Ten said as he put his hand on the crystal ball. Kun swallowed his saliva, but he followed Ten’s action, putting his hand right on top of Ten’s.

Professor Lau finally put his hand on top of both of their hands, “Close your eyes, and get ready for a ride.”

* * *

_Different types of curses were heard from every corner, from all sides. Cruciatus, Expulso, you name it._

_But in Kun’s head, there was only one thing._

_“Where is Ten?”_

_Kun held his wand closer to his chest while trying to make his way around the dead bodies and avoiding the sparks coming from everyone’s wand. Ten was still nowhere in sight, and he couldn’t help but worry even more. Ten was a Muggle-born, and if a Death Eater managed to catch him…_

_Kun didn’t even want to imagine such a scenario._

_“Appare vestigium,” he whispered, with his wand pointing to the ground ahead of him._

_The path in front of him brightened a little bit, but it was still quite dim as the light was covered by bodies lying on the ground._

_“Well, better than nothing.”_

_He followed the brightened path slowly, still trying his best to look around and ensure that he himself was out of danger._

_But every caution he had in his head flew away with the wind when he managed to find Ten._

_Ten, who was lying down on the ground, with blood running down his temple._

_His Ten._

_“Ten!” Kun screamed as he ran towards him._

_Ten opened his eyes, then he smiled weakly, “Kun… you’re safe…”_

_“Ten, please please stay awake, I will bring you back to Hogwarts, please hang in there for me, please…”_

_“Kun,” Ten cut off Kun’s ramblings, “If I haven’t said it enough… I just want to let you know that I love you.”_

_Kun was stunned._

_“Ten… what were you saying…”_

_“I love you. Always have. Always will,” Ten continued with his shaky, trembling breath, “If we can’t be together in this lifetime, I hope I will meet you and finally be with you in my next one.”_

_Kun cried helplessly, “No Ten, no… I will bring you back to Hogwarts, you will be safe, we’ll be together…”_

_“Kiss me one last time? Please?”_

_Kun shook his head, tears still running down his face, “No, not the last time…”_

_“Kun, sweetheart, I am begging you, please?”_

_Kun wiped his tears, then he nodded and closed his eyes. Their lips finally met in the lightest touch._

_Before Ten’s lips finally felt cold on his own._

_“Ten, no please open your eyes Ten, no…..” Kun hugged Ten’s limp body closer to his chest, he didn’t even care about his surroundings anymore._

_“Crucio!”_

_Kun suddenly felt something striking his back, and an immense pain quickly spread throughout his whole body. He didn't even have time to feel anything else before he finally fell down on the ground, with arms still hugging Ten’s body._

_He still had tears running down his face when he finally closed his eyes._

* * *

Ten’s eyes shot wide open. He had cold sweat running down the sides of his face, and he didn’t even realize that he’d been crying the whole time. He looked to his left, and he saw Kun being in the same state as he was. 

“Professor… what… what was that?” 

Professor Lau rubbed his crystal ball for one last time before it dimmed, then released a low sigh.

“What both of you saw just now was what happened during The First Wizarding War. A lot of people died, both wizards and non-wizards. As you can see, both of you were the victims as well,” Professor Lau paused a bit, “And both of you were lovers, or I guess I can say that both of you were soulmates… in the past.”

Ten and Kun stayed quiet.

“This explained why you knew when Ten was in danger, Kun. Although you are not his familiar, both of you are connected in a way that you could feel when each other is in danger, feeling sad, and all that.”

“Professor, since Ten in the past said that he hoped we would be together in his next life… does that mean… we….” Kun couldn’t even continue his words, he just bowed his head with darkening cheeks.

Professor Lau smiled, _ah young love_.

“Kun, both of you were soulmates in the past, the prophecy also said so,” Professor Lau said softly, “But prophecy, divination, whatever you call it, they always change. You don’t listen to them. Listen to your heart.”

Ten and Kun both raised his head in surprise, like they didn’t expect such words coming from the professor who taught Divination.

“Yes, I know I teach Divination, but I can also say such things _because_ I teach Divination,” Professor Lau shrugged, “Anyway, I am sure both of you will have a lot of time to figure it out, since Kun will be enrolled here.”

Kun’s eyes widened, and he pointed at himself, “Me? Enrolled here? But… how??”

Professor Lau shrugged again, “I told you I taught Divination, didn’t I?”

* * *

The Stoatshead Hill always looked the prettiest in the evening, with lights coming from the stars, greeneries surrounded by twinkling fireflies. The soft breeze also gave such a relaxing feeling to everyone who visited the hill and enjoyed its peaceful and serene vicinity.

Perfect for these two young men who spent the past half an hour in silence, sitting together on one of the hills and trying to put their jumbled thoughts in order.

“Ten,” Kun finally decided to break the silence.

Ten looked away from the scenery in front of him and looked into Kun’s eyes, “Hm?”

“I know we’re here to talk, supposedly… is it okay if I start?” Kun asked.

Ten nodded, “Sure, go ahead.”

Kun turned a bit to his left so that he was able to face Ten completely, “Ten, before that, I want you to know that whatever I am saying to you is not because of what happened to our past selves, and also not because of whatever Professor Lau said. I have been feeling like this all the while I’ve been here, and I hope you believe what I am going to say.”

Ten smiled softly, then he held Kun’s trembling hand, “Yes, Kun. I trust you. I believe you.”

That seemed to help with the turmoil happening in Kun’s head, as Kun released a shaky sigh and smiled after. 

“Okay, Ten… honestly, I like you. I know we’ve been feeling some connection, but this is totally different from that. I like you as in, I can’t stop thinking about you. I want to learn to cook the dishes that you like. I want to learn everything about wizardry so that I can talk about them more with you. I even want to learn more about Defence Against The Dark Arts, as you seem to love the subject so much,” Kun said softly, “I want to learn more about you, Ten. I want to know all of you, and I hope you’re okay with this.”

Ten held Kun’s hand tighter, and he smiled even wider, “I am glad you’re feeling the same way, Kun.”

Kun’s eyes widened, “Feeling… the same? You mean…”

Ten nodded lightly, “I am going to just tell you the truth. Before I stepped into the forest, I actually hesitated, and I ended up crying.”

Kun frowned, “Why? Why did you cry?”

Ten looked at his lap, suddenly feeling embarrassed, “I was thinking about how I was not going to see you anymore once I managed to send you back home, about the possibility that you might forget about me…” Ten raised his head, looking straight into Kun’s eyes, “About how it was going to be so, so hard for me to let you go.”

Kun smiled widely, with his dimples on full display, “Well, I don’t think you’re going to let me go that easily now, are you?”

Ten shook his head cutely, then snuggled himself into Kun’s arms, “Nope. It won’t be that easy to get rid of me either.”

Kun snorted lightly, but a little smile could be seen on his lips. He then hugged Ten closer and put his chin on top of Ten’s head.

Both of them were only sixteen, and the world ahead of them might be dark and unnerving.

But it took them one word to know that they were ready to face everything coming their way.

Ten raised his head and looked at Kun, “Together?”

Kun smiled and nodded, “Together.”

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my work! And special shoutout to my beta reader! You’re my savior! Comments and kudos would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Oh! Ten brownie points for anyone who can guess who the dragon is!


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